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PokerStars EPT -- Barcelona Day 3

The Field Plays Down to the Final 23 -- Five Previous EPT Champions Still in the Hunt

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Bertrand GrospellierNo poker player has won two PokerStars European Poker Tour main event titles. That could all change here at the 2009 Barcelona €8,000 no-limit hold’em main event. Team PokerStars Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier rose to the top of the leader board during the third day of action in this event, moving himself into prime position to win a second EPT title. Grospellier won his first EPT title at the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. His second could come here in Barcelona, but he will have to watch out for a number of tough opponents that will be looking to win a second title of their own.

Roland de Wolfe (2006 EPT Dublin), Jens Kyllonen (2009 EPT Copenhagen), Jan Boubli (2005 EPT Barcelona), and Michael Mcdonald (2008 EPT Dortmund) can each capture a second title with a win here in Barcelona, which will make for an interesting story line to watch as the field plays down to the final table tomorrow. Both Grospellier and Mcdonald have come close to a second title. Grospellier finished in second place at the 2007 EPT Copenhagen main event, while Mcdonald almost pulled off an unprecedented title defense in Dortmund this year, when he finished in fifth place at the 2009 EPT Dortmund main event.

The order of today’s business was for the field to shrink from 72 players down to the three, eight-handed tables. Many big names fell, but the field that remains features many top players. A full list of the chip counts and eliminations is provided below. When 23 players remained (two players busted on the final hand) play was stopped and the field will return at 12:30 p.m. CEST (3:30 a.m. PDT) tomorrow. Tune back in at that time to follow along with all of the action as Card Player’s tournament reporting team brings you live updates, chip counts, and photos. Tomorrow will also feature streaming video on the EPT Live feed.

Here is a look at the chip counts at the end of day 3:

Georgios Kapalas Greece — 1724000
Matt Lapossie Canada PokerStars qualifier — 1664000
Marc Goodwin UK — 1545000
Patrick Bueno France — 1467000
Joram Voelklein Germany — 728000
Mihai Manole Romania — 641000
Ari Kolpanitzki Israel — 616000
Santiago Terrazas Ambite Spain — 595000
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier France PokerStars Team PRO France — 520000
Jan Boubli France — 516000
Adam Markovits Hungary PokerStars qualifier — 503000
Roland de Wolfe UK — 475000
Mike McDonald Canada — 475000
Jens Kyllonen Finland — 371000
David Robinson USA PokerStars qualifier — 365000
Asa Gregory Smith UK — 340000
Carter Phillips USA PokerStars qualifier — 338000
Julien Nuijten Netherlands — 329000
Toni Ville Ojala Finland — 323000
Oleksandr Vaserfirer Ukraine — 258000
Jose Alberto Carreres Quereda Spain — 257000
Michael Greco UK — 169000
Cornel Andrew Cimpan USA — 156000

Here is a look at the results from day 3, as provided by PokerStars:

24 – Pontus Kers, Sweden, €26,000
25 – Samer Rahman, Sweden, €23,00
26 – Simon Munoz, Spain, €23,000
27 – Lars Bonding, Denmark, €23,000
28 – Markus Ross, Germany, €23,000
29 – Kevin Fesselier, France, €23,000
30 – Tobias Reinkemeier, Germany, €23,000
31 – Jorn Walthaus, Holland, €23,000
32 – Jan Collado, Germany, €23,000
33 – Constantin Cirstea, Romania, €20,000
34 – Thomas Traboulsi, Germany, €20,000
35 – Yulius Sepman, Russia, €20,000
36 – Anton Morgenstern, Germany, €20,000
37 – Roman Kadziela, Poland, €20,000
38 – Dmitry Stelmak, Russia, €20,000
39 – Sergio Castellucio, Italy, €20,000
40 – Diego Arias, Spain, €20,000
41 – Luis Ramon Rufas Acin, Spain, €18,000
42 – Albert van Zandwijk, Holland, €18,000
43 – Frank Blumlein, Germany, €18,000
44 – Thierry van den Berg, Holland, €18,000
45 – Miika Anttonen, Finland, €18,000
46 – Alessio Isaia, Italy, €18,000
47 – Matt Woodward, United States, €18,000
48 – Samuel Oberlin, United States, €18,000
49 – Mohamed Naddaf, Spain, €16,000
50 – James Francis Collopy, United States, €16,000
51 – Senol Karanasan, Turkey, €16,000
52 – Morten Klein, Norway, €16,000
53 – Ben Thavisin, Germany, €16,000
54 – Umberto Cianfanelli, Italy, €16,000
55 – Kaspars Renga, Latvia, €16,000
56 – Dren Ukella, Germany, €16,000
57 – Sebastian Bauer, Germany, €14,000
58 – Noah Boeken, Holland, Team PokerStars Pro, €14,000
59 – Umberto Vitagliano, Italy, €14,000
60 – Nestor Esteban Camacho, Venezuela, €14,000
61 – Carlos Lopez, Spain, €14,000
62 – Dominik Nitsche, Germany, €14,000
63 – Daniel Smyth, Ireland, €14,000
64 – Almira Skripchenko, France, €14,000
65 – Bas Steegers, Holland, €12,000
66 – Evgeny Solntsev, Russia, €12,000
67 – Judet Tomi, Romania, €12,000
68 – Jonathan Aguiar, France, €12,000
69 – Mark Bollinger, Switzerland, €12,000
70 – Thayer Rasmussen, PokerStars player, USA, €12,000
71 – Diego Florani, Italy, €12,000
72 – Malte Strothmann, Germany, €12,000

Here is a look at the highlights from day 3 as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:

Queen High Beats King High

When Tobias Reinkemeier called Roland de Wolfe on the river with a pot worth around 100,000 in chips, de Wolfe thought he was behind so he showed a king and mucked his cards. Reinkemeier let him even though all he had was queen-high. A scuffle occurred then as they attempted to get De Wolfe’s cards back but it was already too late and De Wolfe’s face dropped as he watched the pot go Reinkemeier’s way.

The hand caused some controversy among railbirds and other players. Reinkemeier said afterwards that basically he knew the only hand de Wolfe could have with the board the way it was, was king-high, and if he called, de Wolfe would instantly know he was beaten.

Thierry Van Den BergThierry Van Den Berg Eliminated

Thierry Van Den Berg was all in for his tournament life versus Patrick Bueno.

Van Den Berg showed pocket jacks while Bueno revealed A-Q.

A queen came on the flop and it’s all over for the Dutchman. He goes out in 44th place for €18,000.

Jorn WalthausJorn Walthaus Eliminated in 31st Place

Jorn Walthaus shoved all in from the big blind for 136,000. Simon Munoz called and the two flipped over their cards. Walthaus had pocket twos and Munoz had KDiamond Suit 3Heart Suit. The board looked promising for Walthaus when it fell JDiamond Suit JSpade Suit 4Club Suit AClub Suit, but the KClub Suit on the river was the sting in the tail and Walthaus left the tournament in 31st place with €23,000 for his efforts.

Once, Twice, Three Times a Big Slick

UTG+1 pushed for 43,000, Toni Ojala raised it up to 110,000, and Bertrand Grospellier reraised it to 240,000. Ojala tanked and folded. The two turned over their cards. Both showed A-K and Ojala announced he also had A-K. The pot was chopped up and the short stack was back to square one.

Elimination Station

It seemed as if Lars Bonding was doing pretty good, taking control of pots and raking in the chips. In a recent hand, Marc Goodwin bet 20,000, Bonding called from the small blind and the flop fell 8Club Suit 7Heart Suit 2Club Suit. Bonding applied the pressure with a 58,000 bet. Goodwin passed.

He was raising again in the very next hand and sitting on 570,000 in chips. However, 10 minutes later Bonding busted out of the tournament. He left in 27th place, €23,000 richer.

Georgios Kapalas Takes the Chip Lead

Samer Rahman bet out 30,000 from the cutoff and Georgios Kapalas reraised it to 85,000 on the button. Rahman called.

The flop was dealt 8Spade Suit 7Heart Suit 4Spade Suit and Kapalas bet 110,000. Rahman went into the tank and then made the call. The turn fell 9Diamond Suit and Kapalas bet 175,000. Rahman made the call and the river was the KHeart Suit.

Rahman moved all in and Kapalas insta-called, turning over JSpade Suit 10Heart Suit for the straight on the turn. Rahman showed KDiamond Suit 7Spade Suit for two pair.

Rahman left the event in 25th place for €23,000. Kapalas moved into the lead with 1,724,000 in chips.